A Lone Wolf vs The Walking Dead
by TRAE SKITTY
Summary: Tommy Dawkins is left alone in the world of the walking dead, the death of his best friend weighing heavy on his shoulders. He meets Rick Grimes and his group of survivors. Will they take him in as one of their own to survive in the apocalypse together? Or will they fear the Pleasantville werewolf like everyone else has in the past?
1. Pilot

Tommy was running through a dark hallway with Merton close behind him. He could hear zombies moaning all around them. Due to his incredible wolf sight, Tommy could see the zombies and was able to kick them out of the way. They had only found this shelter a week ago and it had already been ransacked by the dead. He should have known nothing was really safe anymore. He finally reached the door to one of the main exits of the shelter but, he realized Merton wasn't behind him anymore. He started to panic and ran back down the hallway. He found Merton a couple steps back trying to run as fast as he could. He had hurt his leg and it was causing him to limp. Tommy slid under Merton's arm, supporting him with his shoulders and helped him walk to the exit. They opened the door and saw that the sun was starting to go down. Not a good time to be outside, without weapons. Tommy continued to help Merton walk to the outside of the camp and into the edge of the woods.

"I have to stop," Merton said after a deep breath.  
"Merton, we can't stop here. We need to find someplace to stay tonight. It's not good to just be out here in the open at night."  
"Tommy, I can't go anymore." Tommy started to pick Merton up. "Don't, Tommy. Prop me up against this car." Tommy did as his friend asked and sat him down by the silver car. Tommy nervously paced back and forth in front of him, constantly looking out for any zombies. "Tommy, just sit down. Just for a minute."  
Tommy scanned the area over one more time and plopped down next to Merton. "We can't sit here long."  
"You won't."  
Tommy looked at Merton, confused.  
"Tommy, you're my best friend."  
"Dude you're my best friend, too," Tommy said looking at him, curiously. "But we really don't have time to sit here and make friendship bracelets!"  
Merton grabbed Tommy's arm. "I can't walk any farther."  
"Your leg isn't that bad. Once we settle somewhere we can bandage it up and you'll be just fine."  
"That's not the problem," Merton said and lifted the right side of his shirt, revealing a bite mark. Tommy's ears started to ring and everything seemed to blur around him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It had to be a dream. A nightmare. He shook his head, trying to wake himself up but, he couldn't. This wasn't a dream. His best friend had been bit.

"Merton-"  
"Tommy, its okay. I'm not made for this world. Honestly, I'm surprised I made it this far. I was hardly surviving before the apocalypse. The only reason I've ever made it as far as I have is because of you."  
Tommy's eyes started to well up. "Merton, I can't do this without you."  
"Yes you can. The minute I started helping you with being a werewolf, I knew you were put here for something big. This is it. I think you're going to save the world, Tommy."  
"I'm just one guy. Look around you! The world has already ended. I can't save it. No one can."  
"You aren't just one guy. You're a werewolf, Tommy. If anyone on this planet can do it, it's you. You may not do it alone but, it's up to you." Merton was getting paler by the minute. He grunted and held his side.

Tommy looked at him, his forehead all crinkled up and worried. He had seen a handful of other people turn since all of this had happened and watched their slow progression from dying to living dead. It was painful to watch even if it was someone you hardly knew but, this was Merton. His best friend and the only person he had anymore. He thought if he could just close his eyes, everything would be okay again. He had lost too many people. He couldn't lose Merton too.  
"It feels like my rib is on fire and it's slowly running through the rest of my body. Like shards of glass in my veins."

"I'm sorry, Merton. I wish there was something I could do."  
Merton reached into his coffin backpack and pulled out a large knife and placed it in Tommy's paw.  
"Merton, I can't."  
"Do it for me. I don't want to become one of those things."  
"You can't ask me to do this."  
"You either do it now or you do it when I'm chomping on someone's brains."  
Tommy stared at Merton, taking those words in and shook his head. He knew that he had to do it before Merton turned so he took the knife and placed it in his lap.

They sat side by side reminiscing about all the good times they had in high school. When the dead started rising, they had only just graduated college. They thought they had the whole rest of their lives ahead of them. They were both in relationships with beautiful, smart amazing women and they had plans of buying houses next door to each other. They were going to live the perfect American life, saving the world from monsters and living happily ever after. The monsters, apparently had other plans.

Merton's breathing started to get heavy and his words were getting farther and farther apart. He looked at Tommy and smiled. "I love you, Tommy. You'll always be my best friend."  
"I love you, little buddy."  
"Save the world…for me," he said and his eyes slowly closed and his body fell limp.  
"Merton? Merton?" Tommy started shaking his best friend. His lip began to quiver and tears poured down his face into his fur. "No, Merton. No. This isn't how it's supposed to happen. No. Please don't leave me." Tommy bent over, sobbing into his paws. He remembered that Merton had given him the knife. His body felt so weak with sadness but, he gripped the knife as tight as he could in his paw. He stared at it for the longest time, trying to gather up his strength. He took a deep breath, kissed his best friend on the head. He removed the coffin backpack and Merton's over-sized trench coat and put them on the hood of the car. "Sorry, buddy," he said and drove the knife through Merton's head. He fell back against the car, holding his best friend. His shoulders began to shake with the sobs that erupted from his body. The sun had finally gone all the way down. Tommy looked up at the moon and let out a sad, deep howl.

Rick Grimes and his group were currently camping out in a large log cabin in the woods. Daryl was sitting outside on the porch, cleaning his crossbow when he heard a howl in the distance.


	2. The Burial

Daryl was leaning against the wall, staring out into the night when Carol stepped onto the porch. "Go get some rest. I'll take watch," she said, taking her rifle from her back holster.  
He took a long piece of grass out of his mouth that he had been chewing on and threw it on the ground. He looked at Carol and then back out into the woods. "I heard a howl earlier. Knock on the window when the sun starts coming up, I want to start tracking as soon as possible. We need something better than these damn beans to eat."  
She nodded her head and took a seat in the rocking chair and Daryl grabbed his crossbow and went inside.

* * *

Tommy found some old blankets in the silver car and wrapped Merton in them as neatly as he could. He walked around to the back of the shelter, he remembered seeing a shed there. Every window he passed on the building, had zombies on the other side, banging and scratching at the glass. The shed in the back was locked, which would have been a problem for most people but, not a werewolf. He simply grabbed each side of the chain it was on and pulled it apart. The shed was dusty, dark and filled with all kinds of junk. Luckily, it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for – a shovel.  
He stopped at a window, watching one particular zombie desperately try to bite him through the window. He stared at the teenage rotting girl while a single tear ran down his cheek. He walked back to the silver car, gripping the handle of the shovel tight. He began furiously digging a hole next to the silver car.

* * *

Daryl woke up to the sound of a knock on the window and peered outside to see the sun coming up. He stood up, stretched and ran his hands through his greasy hair. He saw Rick and Carl sitting at the kitchen table. "Heard a wolf last night. Going out to track it, see if I can get us a good meal."  
"I'll come with you."  
"I track better when I'm alone."  
"I've been wanting to scope out the area more. Not to mention, I could learn a thing or two about tracking."  
"Fine. Let's go," Daryl said, picking up his crossbow and walked out the door.  
"Keep watch while I'm gone, Carl," Rick said and he followed after Daryl. He found Daryl impatiently waiting on the porch, talking to Carol.  
"Come on. We ain't got all day."  
"We're wasting daylight, I know," Rick said and smiled. He used to hear his father say that all the time.  
"I heard it come from the Northwest direction. Stay behind me and be quiet."  
Rick obeyed and followed him into the woods, laughing under his breath. It always made him laugh when Daryl tried to take charge. He was a good leader but, Daryl would never admit it himself. He didn't like the attention.  
They walked for what seemed like forever when Daryl stopped and crouched down. Rick knew better than to say anything. He crouched down beside Daryl and saw what was intriguing him. It was a print in the dirt but, it certainly wasn't a wolf print. In fact, it didn't look like a print from anything in the animal kingdom. It appeared human but had long claw marks at the end of the toes like a wolf or a dog.  
"What could make a print like that?"  
Daryl was speechless. He had no earthly idea. "Whatever it is, it's big."  
Rick wasn't a coward by any means but, the mystery animal scared him. He could fight and outrun walkers but, could he do the same for a bear? "Maybe we should track something else."  
"You scared?" Daryl asked as he began to follow the tracks.  
"I think most people experience fear when they're tracking Bigfoot."  
Daryl laughed silently, "Big bad sheriff." They began to reach the end of the woods and they saw something moving on the other side. Daryl froze and lifted his crossbow. He slowly stalked towards whatever was moving while trying to focus his aim on the creature. It was hiding behind a silver car. He looked back at Rick and signaled for him to move next to him. Rick swiftly moved to his side, lifting his gun up and pointing it towards the car. They hid behind the last row of trees and watched carefully as the creature stood up and revealed that it wasn't a creature at all but, a man. However, they never let themselves or their weapons relax.  
They saw him stand up, lifting a body wrapped in sheets. Then he turned around and placed the body in a hole in the ground. He grabbed a shovel and began to shovel the big pile of dirt into the hole, burying the body. When he finally had put all the dirt in place, he smoothed out the top with care. He grabbed sticks and tied them together with pieces of torn blanket then pushed the grave marker in the ground. The man sat down at the foot of the grave and began to weep. Rick and Daryl exchanged glances, remained hidden behind the trees and listened as he began to talk.  
"I'm sorry, Merton. This is my fault. This is all…my fault. Since everything went down, everyone looked to me for answers. I'm a werewolf, not a goddamn savior. You should have been in charge. You're the smart one," The man wiped his face with his arm, grabbed a small black coffin type bag and began to tie it to the cross. "If anyone was going to save the world, it was going to be you. I don't know what to do, Merton. How do I save the world without you?"  
Rick shifted his weight, causing the leaves to crunch ever so slightly under his boot. The man stood up, turned around and looked right at them.

* * *

Tommy heard movement in the woods. He turned around nervously, expecting zombies. What he found was much worse – people. Living, breathing people, aiming weapons right at him. He realized that he had been wolfed out for almost 24 hours. He had never done that before. He grabbed Merton's trench coat and was planning to run away but, the two men stepped out from the woods, slowly walking towards him. His wolf instincts told him to run but he kept hearing Merton's voice telling him to save the world. Something about those words and these men made him stay.

* * *

As Rick and Daryl walked closer towards the man, they realized that maybe they weren't dealing with a man at all. He had hair all over his face, wild wolf-like eyes, fangs and claws. Daryl looked down at the man's feet and realized that those were the prints they had been tracking. They had found Bigfoot or whatever he was. Daryl had never been afraid of anything, except maybe his father and he had the scars to prove why. He had grown up fast and on his own. He didn't have time to be scared. However, this was the first time since he had seen his first walker that fear had taken over him.

* * *

Tommy stood his ground. He thought about putting his hands above his head to show the men that he had no ill intentions but, he knew any sort of movement might make them pull the trigger. They could have silver bullets for all he knew. The seconds seemed to last forever. He could see the fear in their eyes so he decided to cut the tension with words. "My name is Tommy Dawkins. I'm a werewolf and I mean you no harm."  
"What are you?" The lanky man with the beard asked.  
"A Werewolf."  
The man titled his head. "Are you trying to make a fool out of me?"  
"Do you have another way to explain the way I look? I didn't want to believe it when I got bit either but, werewolves are real. Here's the living proof standing in front of you."  
"Who's in the grave?"  
"My best friend, Merton. We were in that shelter and zombies took over the place. He got bit and I had to…" Tommy couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.  
"I understand. We've all had to do it. Where's the rest of your group?"  
"There is nobody else. When we left Pleasantville, we had a group of about 10 of us. We've been running from camp to shelter. Lost a lot of people and seen a lot of shit. It's been Merton and I for a long time," Tommy looked down at the grave. "I don't know where to go or what to do. I want to save the world but, I don't know how to do it on my own."  
The bearded man leaned his head towards the other man with the long hair to whisper something. They nodded to each other and the bearded man lowered his gun. The other man kept his crossbow aimed on Tommy. "My name is Rick Grimes and this is Daryl. Our people, we have a set of rules. A code. You can come back to our camp with us if you answer 3 questions."  
"Ask away, Rick."


	3. The Group

Tommy waited in anticipation for the questions that could determine his survival.  
"How many walkers have you killed?"  
"The zombies? Too many to count."  
Rick nodded in agreement. "How many people have you killed?"  
Tommy lowered his head. "1."  
"Why?"  
"One of the first places we found shelter when all of this started happening, the leader was a total maniac. I had a feeling about it right away but, we were in no position to turn down a safe place to stay. I came back from a supply run when I found the leader trying to rape my girlfriend. Before I could even make a move to stop it, he shot her. He said that women couldn't stay in the town if they didn't sleep with him. I gave in to the wolf, ripped him to pieces. I've never done that to a human before. I still think about it every day."

Rick and Daryl stared at him, trying to take in everything he had said. "That's all I needed to know," Rick said in his southern drawl. He walked back towards the trees with Daryl to discuss their decision. Tommy pretended that he couldn't hear their conversation.  
"What do you think?" Rick asked.  
"He's a werewolf. We don't even know what he's capable of," Daryl said, never taking his crossbow off of Tommy.  
"I know this sounds crazy but, I trust him."  
"I'll back you up on whatever you decide but, I'll be keeping an eye on him."  
"Which is exactly what we need to do. I just have this feeling. Something is telling me to trust him," Rick said and nodded. He walked back towards Tommy, holstering his gun. "We have a cabin not far from here. You can come back with us but, I'll need to pat you down and take all of your weapons."  
"That's fine. Here's my knife," Tommy said handing over the knife and put his hands behind his head. He knew it made them feel safer but, Tommy didn't need weapons to hurt them. He was the weapon.  
Rick patted him down, finding no other weapons. "Ready to go?"

"Give me a second," Tommy said crouching back down to Merton's grave. Rick and Daryl got the hint and gave him some space. Tommy stared at the coffin backpack that Merton had carried around since the day they first met. He smiled; remembering how weird he first thought Merton was for having things like that. He used to make fun of all of his creepy stuff but, he would give anything to go back to Merton's lair right now. "I'm going to save the world, Merton. I'm going to do it for you, for our girls, for Lori, for everyone we've lost." Tommy closed his eyes, took a deep breath and de-wolfed. He stood up, stuffed Merton's trench coat in his own backpack and turned to Rick and Daryl. "I'm ready."

* * *

"How did you become a werewolf?" Rick asked, taking the lead.  
"I went camping the night before my senior year of high school and got attacked. My friend, Merton, knew a lot about the supernatural so he taught me everything about werewolves. Pleasantville was a hot spot for the supernatural, so with his knowledge and my powers, we fought any evil monster that came into town."  
"That's quite the story."  
"When all the zombies started showing up, I thought it was just another day, another monster. We had fought zombies before but, they were different."  
Rick proceeded to tell Tommy about his experiences as a small town sheriff and how he woke up to find out the dead had taken over.  
"That's crazy. I think your story beats mine. What about you, Daryl? What's your story?" Tommy asked, not wanting to leave him out of the conversation.  
"It's not important," Daryl said from behind him. Tommy looked back and saw that he still had the crossbow aimed right at him.  
Tommy knew that Daryl didn't like him. He had a feeling the rest of this group might not like him either. He expected it and he wouldn't blame them. He knew that Rick was the leader of this group so he did his best to get to know him better. If he was going to be welcomed into this group, he had to be on Rick's good side. He actually liked Rick a lot. He felt an immediate bond with him.  
"Don't worry about him," Rick whispered. "He's standoffish to everyone."  
"It's okay. Being a werewolf, I'm not real good at first impressions," Tommy said, looking back at Daryl. "I don't mean to be rude but, why are you being nice to me, Rick? You barely know me."  
"In this new world, I've met a lot of different people. I've learned to pick up pretty quickly who's good and who's not. You may not be all man but, you're a good person, I know that. With all I've been through, I realized that if we want a chance at the life we used to have, we need to stick together. Build a community. That's what I'm trying to do. I have a feeling you want something similar."  
"I do. I want to give people a chance at a real life again."

"So what can you do as a werewolf that the average person can't?"  
"Well, I can run extremely fast, I have super strength and my sense of smell and sight are heightened."  
Rick nodded, understanding the benefits of having him join their group. "Why should we be afraid of you?"  
"Well on top of everything I just told you, I've got the fang and claws to back it up."

"We should wait out here," Rick said to Tommy when they reached the cabin. "Daryl, go inside and tell everyone to meet us out here." Daryl lowered his crossbow and did as he said. "I think we should tell them everything. No lies." Tommy nodded in agreement as Daryl lead the group outside. They all stared at Tommy with curiosity and it made him nervous, it made the wolf nervous. He took a deep breath and told himself to hold it together. "I want everyone to meet Tommy. We met him this morning and I'd like him to become a part of our group."  
At that last sentence, many of the group's eyes narrowed. Tommy could sense that these people weren't as quick to trust a stranger as Rick was. That was smart for them but, unfortunate for him.  
"He would be a very good person for this group to have on its side. There's one thing I want all of you to know about Tommy before we take him in. He's a werewolf."

The whole group just continued to stare at Tommy. Carl let out a chuckle. Carol looked at Daryl and he looked right back at her and nodded. She knew that this wasn't a joke. Now she knew why Daryl seemed so tense.  
"Is this a joke?" Glenn asked, staring at Rick like he ate the wrong kind of berries.  
"I know it sounds ridiculous but, it's not a joke," Rick said. "Tommy, why don't you show them?"  
Tommy looked at each and every person in the group and felt like a sideshow freak on display. He hated this but, he knew that he needed to tell them now rather than them find out later. People in the post-apocalyptic world didn't think twice about killing something that scared them. Tommy let his emotions go and it was pretty easy for him to wolf-out. As soon as he did, the entire group raised a weapon and aimed it at him, except for two of them – one guy with a mullet standing in the back and Carl who was holding Judith.  
"Whoa," Rick stood in front of Tommy holding his hands up, ensuring his protection. "I know this is scary but, just hear him out."  
"I'm not evil, I'm just hairy. Underneath it all, I'm just a man trying to survive. I know it's hard to believe but, I promise that I can be a useful part of this group."  
"Tommy, stay out here and the rest of us will meet inside," Rick said and everyone started filing into the cabin. Rick nodded towards Tommy and walked in with the rest of them.


End file.
